A celebration of earthy ingredients & real food

vegetable bake

Hola! I don’t know why I am using a spanish greeting – maybe it’s thinking of all the folks in Puerto Rico who are still needing aid.

Speaking of which – shout out to everybody who has been touched by the hurricanes. Even if it was worrying from afar. Like me! My best girl friend lives in the Antilles – and she was running low on food and hiding out from looters for days on end! She is now officially my hero. Love you Mia! xxx

From hurricanes to vegetable bakes. This is a super simple vegetable bake – it is basically made up of steamed pumpkin + celery, a tin of black beans, and a saucepan of Bechamel sauce. : )

I really like the way that bechamel sauce goes with pumpkin or butternut. The combination is very much a refined-flour-free comfort food haven. Plant based comfort food (with cheese). Just my kind of meal ; P.

The way I make this bake is I begin by steaming the pumpkin and celery. While that is on the go, I make the white / bechamel sauce. Once both of these are ready, I combine them in a baking dish with some black beans and bake.

If you want a really simple veggie based meal – then you could make just this as the main dish. A nice side could be a salad if the weather is warm, or a simple soup for a ‘starter’. If you are throwing a party, this could also simply be one of the veggie dishes.

And of course if you just want to dive into pumpkiny cheesiness – you can have the bake all on its own. And have seconds.

Instructions

Place the pumpkin in a pot large enough to hold all and add 1/2 – 1 cup of water.

Steam the pumpkin until almost cooked, then add the chopped celery.

Continue to steam until both pumpkin and celery are cooked.

In the meantime, make the bechamel sauce. Place the butter into a saucepan and bring to a sizzle. Add the flour and stir until slightly browned. Add in the milk, basil and olive oil, and bring it up to a simmer, stirring regularly.

Next add the grated cheese and stir it into the bechamel sauce until fully melted / combined. Add in enough salt and pepper to flavor the whole dish. So, make it slightly saltier and ‘pepper-ier’ than you would normally.

Now combine the cooked pumpkin (drain off any water), black beans and bechamel sauce in a baking dish (I use a 9 by 9 deep dish).